Typewriter margin mechanism



NOV. 1955 R. E. KINGSBURY TYPEWRITER MARGIN MECHANISM Filed May 20, 1954INVENTOR. RALPH E. K/NGSBUR) BY 1444 Q fiw ATTORNFY United States PatentTYPEWRITER MARGIN MECHANISM Ralph E. Kingsbury, Rocky Hill, Conn.,assignor to Underwood Corporation, New York, N. Y. a corporation ofDelaware Application May 20, 1954, Serial No. 431,033

3 Claims. (Cl. 197-63) This invention relates to margin regulatingmechanisms for typewriters, and more particularly such as are providedat the front-rail of the machine in differentiation from marginregulating mechanisms having stops arranged at the rear of the machine.v

, Although in most present day typewriters the margin stops are providedupon the rear of the carriage, in some settable from points remotethereto, front-rail margin mechanisms are nevertheless the mosteflicient for speed: ily effecting margin-regulating adjustments. Oneunderlying cause for the trend away from front-rail margin stopmechanisms has been that in connection with known structures anoperators sleeve, or hanging bracelet, etc. was very much prone tocatching on margin stop adjusting handles and stop position indicatorsprojecting from the machine in objectionable relations thereto. Also thestructures and arrangements in prior mechanisms were such as to exposeextensively the margin mechanism, and for this and other reasons theprior mechanisms were unsuitable for modern, stream-lined machinedesign. I

In awareness of the fundamental merits and great simplicity of thefront-rail margin mechanisms, it is a main object of the presentinvention to evolve a front-rail margin mechanism having an improvedorganization and structure of parts, whicheliminates thestated'objections, and thereby to provide a margin stop mechanism whichin all mechanical respects is satisfactory and, moreover, facilitatesmodern styling of the machine.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide an eificientmargin stop mechanism comprising margin stops arranged on a front bar ofthe carriage, said bar being formed to nest concealingly, the marginstops as well as an associated mounting rack.

Another object of the invention is to provide a margin stop mechanismwhich facilitates the provision of a guide rail for the carriage inclosely contiguous and harmonious correlation to said carriage bar onwhich the margin stops are concealingly carried.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent fromthe drawings and in the light of the detailed description of themechanism which follows:

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, Figure 1 is a sectionalside elevation showing the top portion of a typewriter embodying theinvention,

Figure 2 is a front sectional view along line 2-2 of Figure 3 and showsin enlarged aspect a left margin stop along with a portion of itssupporting rack,

Figure 3 is a sectional side elevation showing the parts seen in Figure2,

Figure 4 is a perspective view illustrating the upper portion of thetypewriter embodying the invention,

Finally, Figure 5 is a sectional plan view illustrating a right-handportion of the carriage front bar, along with the right-hand margin stopsupported thereon.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 1 and 4, a typewritercarriage, generally designated by the numeral 10, embodies a platen 11turnably supported therein, and comprises widely spaced end-members 12which are joined 2,725,136 Patented Nov. 29, 1955 2 by a bar 13extending parallel to the platen at an appreciable distance in front ofthe platen at the general level thereof.- On this front bar 13 of thecarriage, in a manner to be described hereinafter, are carried a leftmargin stop 14L and a right margin stop 14R.

Referring now particularly to Figure 1, a centrally disposedtype bar 15of a usual full system, is indicated as having been moved closely totyping position in a general path 16. More outwardly disposed type barsof the system takepaths'closer to the carriage bar 13 which is disposedfar enough forward from the platen so that there is no conflict betweenany of the type bars and the margin stops. Moreover, the bar 13 issuffic'iently forward of the platen to allow conveniently the loading oftypewriter ribbons 17 upon conventional spool supports indicated at 18.

The front bar 13 of the carriage is of angle or L cross section andspecifically comprises a shallow, front wall 20, and a ledge 21extending along the top of the wall rearwardly. 1

The main framework of the machine comprises side walls 24 which supporta track bar 25 in front of the carriage bar 13. Specifically, the trackbar 25 is fastened at each of its ends to an interior flange 29, a screw26 reaching upwardly through each flange 29 into the track bar to fastenthe latter. A front panel 27 abuts the track 1 bar 25 and closes up thefront of the typewriter above the conventional keyboard. The track bar25 includes a steel channel insert 28 extending along the rear sidethereof, secured thereto by screws 3i), see Figure 1. Into the channel28 reach two antifriction rolls 31 which are rotatively carried byshouldered studs 32 on the front wall 20 of the carriage bar 13. Thus,at the front of the machine, the carriage It) is guided by means of therolls 31 riding in the channel 28. At the rear the framework of themachine supports a round rail 33 whereupon the carriage has guidingsupport in a conventional manner, not shown.

The aforestated margin stops 14L and MR are adjustably supported on arack bar 34 that extends slightly spaced rearwardly from the wall 20 andsomewhat below the ledge 21.- The rack bar 34 is notched, as at 35, at

intervals which are in agreement with the letter-feedspaces of themachine. The margin stops ML and MR comprise blocks internallychannelled to fit slidingly the bar 34 along its top and bottom edge.Each of the stops 14L and 14R is normally held in an adjusted positionalong the rack bar 34 by means of'a lock plunger 36 which isaccommodated in a vertical cross slot 37 cut in the margin stop. Saidlock plunger 36 fits vertically slidably in the slot 37 behind the rack34 and embodies a forwardly reaching tongue 38 for entrance in any ofthe rack notches 35. The lock plunger 36 of each margin stop hasthereabove a laterally offset, upreaching extension 39 hearing a fingerpiece 41. A compression spring 49 biases each of the plungers 36upwardly to its stop holding position. Specifically, each said spring isaccommodated and seated in the related margin stop in a vertical boreand presses upwardly against the offset plunger extension 39, Downwardpressure exerted against either of the finger pieces 41 will free therelated margin stop from the plunger tongue 33 and then the freed stopmay be moved along the rack 34 to the desired new position. The rack 34is secured at each carriage 'end by a screw 42, the rear wall 20 of thecarriage bar having at each end a boss spacing the rack bar therefrom.

The margin stops 14L and MR have each a downwardly reaching lug 43 forco-action with a counterstop arm 44, the latter of which is bornecentrally of the machine on a frame-supported shaft 45 and normallyoccupies the position seen in Figure 1. In such position the counterstoparm 44 cooperates with the margin stops 14!. and 14R to limit thecarriage travel in opposite directions.

The shaft 45 is limitedly displaceable .leftwardly on the frame by theright-hand margin stop 14R, for conventional line-locking action.Moreover, the said arm is downwardly turnable clear below the marginstops 14L and 148., to permit typing beyond the normal line limits whichthe margin stops define. A fork member 46 secured to the bottom of thetrack bar at the middle of the machine abuts normally the counterstoparm-44 against rightward displacement and permits against the urge ofresilient means, not shown, a limited leftward displacement for line-endlocking action. Further details of the lineend locking and releasingmechanism are not shown inasmuch as the details thereof are immaterialto the invention.

The margin stops 14L, 14R, includes each an upreaching pointer 47 bywhich they are settable in reference to a scale element 49 on thebar-ledge 21 which is secured on such ledge at each carriage end by ascrew 48. The scale bar 49 is of arched cross section, as shown, and theindicating ends of the pointers 47 are substantially flush with the topof the scale bar so that clothing etc. is not apt to catch thereon.

To adjust the carriage guiding rolls 31 to their proper guiding levels,their mounting studs 32 are screwed fast in individual eccentricbushings 51, and each individual bushing is securable in the carriagebar wall in appropriately turned position by a set screw 52, the latterreaching at an upwardly inclined angle from below toward the bushing 51,for access from below in one of the extreme carriage positions. In orderto render the set screws 52 conveniently accessible, the carriage barWall has a local forward bulge 53 adjacent to each roller on the sidetoward the end of the carriage. The said bulges 53 are dimensioned totraverse freely the channel 28. It will be observed that the structureand arrangements of the parts is such that the track bar 25 meetsflushly the front panel 27 of the machine and further that the front bar13 of the carriage is directly contiguous to the rear of the track bar25. Further, in the stated organization, the manipulative controls forthe margin stops are reaching up behind the front bar 13 of the carriagewhere they are not interfering with the operators clothing, etc. Thestated arrangement also facilitates modern styling of the machine sonecessary to make even a mechanically superior device popularlyacceptable on the market.

Having explained the nature and the objects of the invention in itspreferred form, what is claimed is:

1. In a typewriter having a main frame, a platen, and front-strike typebars individually operable against said platen; a letter-feedingcarriage supporting said platen and comprising at the general level ofthe platen, forwardly thereof, clear of the operating paths of said typebars, .a front bar extending parallel to the platen, a framesupportedtrack bar at the front of the carriage front bar and having a channeltherein facing the latter, means on said carriage front bar reachinginto the track-bar-channel for carriage guiding cooperation, saidcarriage front bar comprising an elongate shallow front wallcloselycontiguous to the rear of said track bar and a rearwardlyoverhanging ledge extending along the top of said wall, a margin stopsupported on said carriage under said ledge and behind said front wallfor adjustment parallel to the latter to diiferent margin-definingpositions, and release means for said margin stop comprising anoperating member upreaching behind said ledge for stop releasingoperation and to facilitate the adjustment of said stop.

2. In a front-strike typewriter comprising a platen, and aplaten-supporting carriage having a carriage frame bar extendingparallel to the direction of travel of the carriage and spaced from thefront of the platen, the said carriage frame bar comprising an elongate,shallow wall and a rearwardly overhanging ledge extending along the topof said wall; a rack bar disposed parallel along the rear of said walland covered by said ledge, and a margin stop supported on said rack barfor adjustment therealong and including releasable means normallyholding said stop in adjusted position along said rack bar, said marginstop being substantially covered by said ledge, and said releasablemeans comprising an operating member upreaching behind said ledge forstop-releasing operation and to facilitate adjustment of the stop alongsaid rack bar to different positions.

3. In a front-strike typewriter comprising a platen, and aplaten-supporting carriage having a carriage frame bar extendingparallel to the direction of travel of the carriage and spaced from thefront of the platen, the said carriage frame bar comprising an elongate,shallow wall and a rearwardly overhanging ledge extending along the topof said wall; a rack bar disposed parallel along the rear of said walland covered by said ledge, a margin stop supported on said rack bar foradjustment therealong and including releasable means normally holdingsaid stop in adjusted position along said rack bar, a scale bargenerally coextensive with the carriage and carried upon said ledge, andan indicating finger upreaching from said margin stop behind said ledgefor position indicating cooperation with said scale bar, said marginstop substantially covered by said ledge, and said releasable meanscomprising an operating member upreaching behind said ledge forstopreleasing operation and to facilitate the adjustment of the stopalong said rack bar to different positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS956,672 Berry May 3, 1910 1,469,777 Crawley Oct. 9, 1923

